Theatre Studies Concentration

Coordinator:
John Zerbe, Theatre Studies Department

The department of Theatre Studies offers two different concentration tracks: the theatre arts track and the film and video track.

The theatre arts track provides students with the opportunity to study an intensely collaborative art form from three perspectives: design or technical production, dramatic literature or theatre history, and performance. It explores the unique responsibilities carried by different members of the creative staff as they conceive and execute a theatrical production. The theatre arts track is not available to theatre studies majors.

The film and video track serves students of any major who seek a serious exploration of film as an artistic medium. The track examines filmmaking as an important component of modern culture in the following aspects: a reflection of society, an artistic medium of the auteur, and a medium of influence and social change. The film and video track is available to theatre studies majors.

Requirements

Theatre Arts Track

Students must complete a minimum of seventeen (17) credit hours including the following:

  • One course from each of the three perspectives areas listed below (12 hours)
  • One other 4-credit course with a THEA prefix (or the equivlaent in two-credit offerings). Ideally, this course should enhance the  concentrator's understanding of a specific perspective area (4 hours)
  •  One practicum assignment (THEA 295, 1-4 hours) to be determined in a meeting with a Theatre Studies advisor. Options include Stage Management, Properties Management, Costuming, Lighting, Publicity, Sound, Box Office, House Management, Makeup, and Scenic Art.

Design/Technical Production

  • THEA 110: Play Production
  • THEA 111: Backstage Production 
  • THEA 171: Introduction to Theatrical Design

Dramatic Literature/Theatre History

  • THEA 130: Theatre and Culture I
  • THEA 131: Theatre and Culture II
  • THEA 151 HP: Birth of the Avant-Garde 
  • ENGL 210: Playwriting Workshop
  • THEA 243: Plays and Meaning
  • THEA 340: Drama of Difference
  • THEA 341: East Asian THeatre
  • Any four-credit English class focusing exclusively on drama

Performance

  • THEA 125: Fundamentals of Acting

Students will process the coherence of their concentration experience by participating in a review with department faculty during their senior year. The review requires a written assessment of personal development as relates to the goals of the concentration, and a formal group conversation with department faculty and other theatre students.

Film and Video Track


Students must complete a minimum of seventeen (17) credit hours including the following:

Foundations

  • THEA 161: Masterpieces of the Cinema


Aesthetics (choose 1)

  • THEA 170: Visual Composition in Film
  • THEA 265: Artistry in Film


Production

  • THEA 365: Documentary Film Production

Free Choice (choose 1)

  • ENGL 272: World Cinema
  • ENGL 286: Classic American Cinema
  • ENGL 287: Cult Movies
  • ENGL 288: Shakespeare and Film
  • FREN 315: French and Francophone Cinema
  • THEA 262: Gay and Lesbian Cinema


Practicum (choose 1)

  • THEA 295: Practicum Project (1 credit)
  • THEA 195: Capstone Experience (1 credit)


Students will process the coherence of their concentration experience in a formal “post-mortem” critique with the concentration coordinator following the film festival.